American History: Find Images & Video

Images that you can use for free under Creative Commons licenses. The search page explains the Creative Commons system.

A browsing search. Click "Subject" in the Filters list to narrow the scope of the videos,

A huge collection of digitized information, much of it pictorial. A few collections have been called out here below.

Thousands stereograph cards, worldwide in scope, dated from the 1850s to the 1940s. There are no known restrictions on the use of stereographs.

"This collection documents virtually all aspects of Washington, D.C., life. During the administrations of Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover". 1909-1932. There are no known restrictions on the photographs in the National Photo Company Collection.

Provides access to about 7,000 different views and portraits made during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and its immediate aftermath. The images represent the original glass plate negatives made under the supervision of Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner as well as the photographic prints in the Civil War photographs file in the Prints & Photographs Reading Room. There are no known restrictions on photographs in this collection

American life between 1935 and 1944. Most photographs in this collection are considered to be in the public domain; however, labels on a few images indicate that they may be restricted. Privacy and publicity rights may also apply.